FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Belleville, ON (June 7, 2018) – A 28-year-old Belleville man has pled guilty to animal cruelty charges under the Ontario SPCA Act following an investigation into the abandonment of a dog in his care.

Failing to provide adequate and appropriate resting and sleeping areas

Failing to provide a space to enable the animal to move naturaly and to exercise

Failing to provide sanitary conditions

Failing to provide ventilation

Barr was sentenced by the Justice of the Peace to a five-year prohibition on owning, caring for or living with animals, and five years probation. He was also fined $500 and ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the Quinte Humane Society.

On December 10, 2017, an Ontario SPCA officer executed a warrant at a residence in Belleville after receiving a concern that animals were abandoned at the property. Once inside, officers were overcome with a foul smell inside the unit. A hound-type dog in thin body condition was discovered inside a crate. The bottom of the crate was covered in feces and there was no food or water available for the dog. The animal was removed and placed under the care of the Ontario SPCA. She has since recovered and is now in the process of being re-homed.

“The choice to assume the care of an animal comes with the moral and legal responsibility to ensure that those animals are being cared for appropriately,” says Bonnie Bishop, Senior Inspector, Ontario SPCA. “Abandoning an animal will result in legal consequences. If you are not in a position to care for your animals, contact your local Ontario SPCA Animal Centre or Humane Society to discuss your options.”

Protecting animals since 1873, the Ontario SPCA is Ontario's animal welfare organization. A registered charity, the Society is comprised of close to 50 Communities.

Since 1919, when Ontario's first animal welfare legislation was proclaimed, the Ontario SPCA, with the help of its Communities, has been entrusted to maintain and enforce animal welfare legislation. The Act provides Ontario SPCA agents and inspectors with police powers to do so.